Press: Suspected Islamists Kill Four Members of Security Forces

Four members of the security forces died in Algeria in three separate attacks attributed to armed Islamic militants, the press reported Saturday.

Four members of the security forces died in Algeria in three separate attacks attributed to armed Islamic militants, the press reported Saturday.

Two guards outside the town hall of Assi Youcef, near Tizi Ouzou, 100 kilometers (60 miles) east of Algiers were killed on Wednesday evening.

Their attackers, four men in military fatigues armed with machine guns, used an armored car that had been stolen a few hours earlier.

A member of the civilian militia in the town of Chlef, 200 kilometers west of Algiers, was killed Wednesday evening.

On Thursday, in the same town, a police officer was killed in front of a police station.

The authorities have not commented on the reports.

At least 164 people have been killed in Algeria since the Muslim festival of Ramadan started on November 27.

Insurgency by fundamentalist groups has claimed at least 100,000 lives since they took up arms in 1992 after the army called off the second round of elections the Islamic Salvation Front was poised to win.

President Abdelaziz Bouteflika in July 1999 offered a six-month amnesty on specific conditions to armed groups, which led hundreds of fighters to turn themselves in.

He has ordered the security forces to crack down mercilessly on those who failed to take up the offer -- ALGIERS (AFP)